Chapter 3: A Chilling Discovery

I’m running. My dirty and bloody feet are getting numb from the pain as I rush past the trees. The new dress Lucien’s driver bought me is already torn and muddy. I don’t remember falling. I don’t even know how it got torn. The drops from the sweat running down my forehead make my eyes sting.

I hear the howl from far behind me and try to run faster but my legs are already failing. I try to scream but no sound comes. My heart is beating hard enough to give me a heart attack.

The wolf howls again. It sounds closer than a few seconds ago. My left foot lands on something sharp and I wake up wincing in pain. There is pounding sound on the door. For just a second I think I am in my old apartment.

“Layla.” Rosa’s voice comes through the door as the pounding continues.

I groan and get off the bed. My feet somehow actually feel sore. What kind of nightmare was that? I should probably blame the heals that were forced on me by Joncil. I pass by the new dress thrown on the chair and head for the door.

“STOP KNOCKING!” I unlock and pull it open.

Rosa is standing there with a hard expression. She opens her mouth and closes it. She blinks at me, then opens her mouth again.

“Is there anything wrong?” I ask.

“Vivian,” she points down the hall in the direction of the stairs. “Mam says you should hurry and get dressed. They found your father’s body.”

I just stare at her for a second before what she just said registers.

“No.” The word slips out before I can stop it. I shake my head. “No. They’ve made a mistake. They have been making mistakes for a year. They probably found someone else.”

Rosa looks at me with pity. The silence is enough to make my stomach hurt.

I back away from the door, running both hands through my hair. “Yesterday.” My voice catches before I clear my throat. “Yesterday no one knew where he was. No one had any answers. Now they suddenly find him overnight?” I look back at Rosa, hoping she will tell me this is all some horrible misunderstanding. “That doesn’t even make sense.”

My chest tightens as everything that has happened since I arrived at this house fills my mind. Vivian, the internship. A werewolf I’ve never seen before looks at me and decides I am his. Now less than two days after moving in, the police have found my father.

The timing is too convenient.

I slowly lift my eyes to Rosa. “Who called?”

“The police.”

I nod but my mind is already racing again. For twelve months my father disappeared without a trace. No one saw him. There was no body or even a single trace of him. Maybe somebody wanted me here before they found him?

But why?

I grab the first jacket I see in the closet. My hands are shaking but one thought is clear. If my father is really dead, someone owes me answers.

Joncil drives us to the morgue. Vivian and Lucien sit awkwardly in the back. I look up at the rear-view mirror and notice her fidgeting in her seat. Lucien appears to be more annoyed than anything else. He keeps looking at her but doesn’t say anything.

“When was the last time you saw dad?” I ask her without turning around to look at the back.

“Over a year,” Lucien answers for her.

I twist my body then to look Vivian in the eye. “When was the last time you saw dad?”

She doesn’t answer. She folds her arms and stops fidgeting. I catch Lucien smirking from the side of my eye. I can’t tell whether he is amused by me or her. Or perhaps both. He’s not taking this situation seriously. I mean I know he is half dead but who the hell takes such things lightly?

“I haven’t seen him since I left him.” Vivian suddenly answers but it comes out clipped.

I roll my eyes and turn back to watch the road. It’s already three in the morning. And I can’t shake the suspicion that there is more at play here.

We pull into the hospital just before four in the morning. The parking lot is almost empty and the only lights still on are those to the emergency entrance and the morgue.

We all just sit there. Even Joncil doesn’t move to open the door for them.

I am the first to open my door.

My legs feel heavy as I follow a police officer through a hallways. I’m on autopilot. The only thought in my mind is confirming that it’s not him so I can get out of here. The smell hits me before we reach the double doors. I don’t even know how to describe it but it makes me want to throw up. I never liked the smell of hospitals.

“You don’t have to do this if you don’t want to,” the officer says.

“Yes, I do.” I sigh.

He watches me for a moment before pushing open the door.

The room is colder than the hallway. There are metal drawers lining on one wall and a single stretcher beneath white lights. I stop walking as my feet refuse to take another step.

A woman in blue scrubs glances at me with sympathetic eyes before carefully pulling the white sheet back.

I don’t recognize him. He looks nothing like my ever smiling father. His face is bruised beyond anything that should be possible. One eye is swollen shut. There are deep cuts running across his forehead and cheek. He looks much older, like the last year stole twenty more from him. I’m not even aware I’m crying until the tears slip down my chin. I wish I wasn’t the one to look. No one should ever see their father like this.

Then I see his left hand. The faded scar across his thumb. I was eight when I accidentally cut him while helping him carve a pumpkin. Attempting to help is more accurate.

My knees shake. “Dad.”

I take another step, my vision blurring until his face disappears behind tears I have been holding in for months.

“I found him,” I whisper. “I finally found you.”

Only it’s a year too late.

I sit on the bench outside the viewing room, staring at the floor. I can still see my father’s face every time I close my eyes.

An older detective walks over with a file under his arm. He looks toward Lucien. It seems cautious.

“Miss Carter,” he says. “May I have a word?”

Vivian quickly stands. “We can all—”

“I’d like to speak to Layla alone,” the detective interrupts politely. “She’s an adult.”

“I don’t think that’s necess—”

“Fine,” Lucien says calmly. He slips one hand into his pocket and looks at Vivian. “We will wait outside.”

Vivian opens her mouth to argue but decides to follow him down the hallway instead.

The detective waits until they disappear before taking the seat next to me. “I’m sorry for your loss,” he says quietly.

I don’t trust my voice enough to speak.

“The medical examiner’s preliminary findings show your father died around a week ago.” He pauses before continuing. “His body had almost no blood left. Whoever held him kept him alive for a long time.”

I look up at him. “What?”

“He was fed on by a vampire. An old one.” He explains. “The bite wounds have already sealed. Younger vampires can’t do that. Older ones can. Their saliva closes the wounds.”

I put my face in my hands. Who would be so cruel? Lucien?

The detective flips his notebook. “When was the last time you saw your father?”

“The day he disappeared.” I look back at him.

“Did he mention meeting anyone?” he asks.

“No.” I shake my head.

“Did he have enemies?” He raises his brow.

“Not that I know of.” I swallow.

He writes something down before closing the book.

“One more thing, Layla.” His voice drops. “You should never have come here.”

My head turns toward him. “What does that mean?”

He answers with a question, “Do you know Elijah Wolfe?”

The name sends yesterday rushing back. “I met him yesterday.”

I don't add that it was unpleasant.

The detective nods slowly. “Elijah Wolfe was the last person seen with your father before he disappeared.”

I stare at him. “That can’t be right.”

“We have a witness.” He stands and puts the notebook into his jacket. “And everyone in Manhattan knows Elijah Wolfe and Lucien Hale have been enemies for decades.”

“Wasn’t this body just found? How do you have a witness?” I play with my fingers. This place is getting weirder by the second.

“Even stranger things are about to start happening.” He walks away with that, leaving me on the bench. Yesterday I thought Lucien murdered my father. Today the police have given me another suspect.

But who is the witness?